Protecting You
by Villains' Bad Girl
Summary: Frida and Diego live in peace with the herd. What happens when their happiness is threatened by certain death? sequel to Pet Tiger Diego/OC
1. Hunting Practice

_Hey-O! Welcome to the next story for the Ice Age Series! Enjoy!_

* * *

Diego was at the lake, minding his own business. It had been quite some time since he, Manny, Sid and Frida had arrived to the valley. Life in the valley was pretty good. Almost everyone was friendly, great weather and no tiger packs. Well, Diego and Frida were the only sabers in the valley. It made animals uncomfortable, but the two of them respected everyone and hunted and ate in privacy.

Diego leaned his head down as he took a drink. He was unaware of the pair of eyes that were watching him. The person watching him growled deep in their throat, laying low in the bushes. Diego's ear twitched, but he didn't seem to notice he was being watched.

The creature gave a roar as they jumped out of the bushes, pouncing on Diego. He growled as he saw Frida pinning him to the ground.

"How was that?" she asked.

"Not bad", Diego shrugged. "Not bad. Helpful hint, try not to growl too loud. It'll alert your prey."

Ever since they arrived at the valley, Diego had been teaching Frida how to hunt. She was becoming more of a real saber every day. The only thing that made her stand out from other animals was the charm necklace she wore. The one she got from her human family. Frida always wore it, never taking it off for anything.

"So what are we going to do next?" Frida asked jumping off of Diego.

"What do you say we take a break from this training and go see what the others are doing?" he suggested.

She nodded and gave Diego a quick nuzzle before turning back. Even though they practically lived together, Frida and Diego had not mentioned anything about being more than friends. That was all Diego wanted, as Frida thought. Just to be friends.

The two of them walked out of the woods, to the pools of water. The weather was getting warmer lately and a lot of the ice was melting. Enough to make large deep lakes for the animals to swim in, as well as icy slides for the pools.

"Hey, Manny", Diego said.

"Where have you two been?" Manny asked with a smile.

"Just the usual training", Frida smiled. "Where's Sid?"

"That's what I'm doing right now", he answered. "Sid thinks he can open a camp for kids."

"Just because he took care of Roshan, he thinks he could handle more?" she asked. "This I got to see."

The three of them walked to the smaller pools where all the kids were. They noticed a large crowd of them in one area. As they walked closer, they saw a beaver child beating Sid into the dirt.

"Whoa, hey", Manny said. "Who said you kids could torture the sloth?"

"Manny, don't squash their creativity", Diego smiled.

"Having fun, Sid?" Frida asked.

"Manny!" Sid smiled. "Diego, Frida! My bad mammal jammals. Want to lend a sloth a hand?"

Manny rolled his eyes and lifted Sid with his trunk out of the hole.

"Look, I started my own camp", Sid said. "Campo Del Sid. It means the Camp of Sid."

"Oh, how wrong you are", Frida laughed. "If you knew your languages, it means Field of Sid."

"I told you, Sid", Manny frowned. "You're not qualified to run a camp.

"Since when do I have to be certified to do childcare?" Sid asked. "Besides, these kids look up to me. I'm like a role model for them."

Frida, Manny and Diego watched as the kids tied a vine around Sid's feet. The kids tightened the vine, making him fall to the ground.

"I can see that", Diego said raising his eyebrow.

"You guys think I can never do anything right", Sid grumbled getting up. "I am an equal member of this herd. I made this herd! So you guys need to start treating me with some respect."

"Sid..." Frida sighed as he hopped away.

"Come on, Sid", Manny added.

"Sid, we were just kidding", Diego added.

"Hey, let's play pin the tail on the mammoth."

The beaver child held up a stick and gave a battle cry, with a crazy look in her eye, showing off her sharp beaver teeth. The other kids joined her in her battle cry, making everyone else nervous.

"SID!"


	2. Story Time

Frida sighed peacefully as she rested her head on Diego. Manny managed to calm the kids down by telling them a story, making them all happy.

"So in the end", Manny said finishing the story. "The little burro reached its mommy. And they lived happily ever after."

The kids cheered at the happy ending.

"Good job", Diego smiled getting some relaxation.

"Question", the beaver said raising her hand. "Why does the burro go home? Why didn't he stay with the rabbits?"

"Because", Manny answered. "Because he wanted to be with his family."

"It was time for the burro to go home", Frida helped out. His mommy wanted him to come home."

"I think he should go with the girl burro", a little bird said. "That's a better love story."

Frida giggled at the innocence the children had. The little girls were always thinking about romance long before the glanced at Diego who looked at her. Frida quickly looked away and sighed. She didn't know if Diego was ever going to tell her about how he felt. She didn't think she should tell him her feelings. Frida was scared to death of him rejecting her. Frida's attention was caught when Manny started getting frustrated.

"They lived happily ever after!" he said. "One big happy family. That's the way it's supposed to be!"

"Then where's your big happy family?" the bird asked.

Manny looked at the bird feeling hurt. That one question opened up old wounds about how he lost his family. Diego and Frida looked at Manny, understanding his pain. Neither of them had a family anymore either. Diego looked at the kids and jumped up.

"Then the hungry tiger ate the pesky little kids."

He roared and jumped in front of the kids, making them scream and run in fear. Frida rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Real nice, Diego", she said jumping down next to him. "How do you expect kids to like you if you do that?"

He looked at her, his ears flattening against his head. Diego turned to Manny who was walking away.

"You okay there, buddy?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?" Manny answered.

"I just thought you-"

"Story time's over", Manny said putting an end to the topic. "The end."

Frida looked at Diego who was looking away. She looked at Manny and put her paw on his trunk to get his attention.

"You know there's no shame in talking about it", she said.

"What are you talking about?" Manny asked.

"I know your pain", Frida said. "You can always talk to me about it if you want."

"There's nothing to talk about", he said. "Now just drop it!"

Frida's ears flattened against her head and looked at Diego who had the same reaction. The silence was broken by two kids who were running.

"Run for your lives!" they screamed.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Diego asked.

"The world's coming to an end!" one of them said.

"What are you talking about?" Manny asked.

"Fast Tony", the kid said. "He says the world's going to flood!"


	3. The Eviscerator

Frida, Diego and Manny walked through the crowd to see Fast Tony, the armadillo. He was busy trying to scam the animals into buying random objects he had. At the moment, he was trying to sell a reed. Manny glared and grabbed him.

"Why are you scaring everybody with this doomsday stuff?" he asked.

"I'm trying to make a living here, pal", Fast Tony said pulling away. "It's all part of my accu-weather forecast. The five-day outlook calls for intense flooding followed by the end of the world!"

The animals gasped and screamed in fear.

"And a slight chance of patchy sunshine later in the week", he finished.

"Are you really going to believe him?" Frida asked. "How can anyone know what's going to happen in the future?"

"Come on", Manny said. "Fast Tony would sell his own mother for a grape."

"Are you making an offer?" Fast Tony asked proving his point. "What about you, miss? I'm sure you'd like something in exchange for this."

He touched the necklace Frida wore. She growled and swiped her paw at him.

"Haven't you heard?" one of the animals asked. "The ice is melting."

"See this ground?" Manny said. "It's covered in ice. A thousand years ago, it was covered in ice. A thousand years from now, it'll still be ice."

"Say, buddy", an aardvark said stepping forward. "Not to cast aspersions on your survival instincts or nothing, but haven't mammoths pretty much gone extinct?"

The animals all looked at him before turning to Manny. This was news to all of them.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I mean you being the last of your kind. When's the last time you saw another mammoth?"

"Don't pay any attention to him", Diego said getting annoyed.

Frida sighed and turned away. From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of green fur, walking past the ice.

"Sid?" she said.

Frida watched as Sid climbed onto the ice. She didn't know what he was doing and chose to follow him. She followed him up the ice, not realizing they were climbing up the Eviscerator, the tallest and most dangerous slide in the valley.

"Sid!" Frida called out. "What are you doing?"

"No one respects me", Sid said. "I'm going to jump off the Eviscerator and earn everyone's respect."

"The Eviscerator? What?"

Frida looked down and noticed how high up they were. She froze in fear, unable to move any further up. What if she slipped on the ice? She would fall to her death. She looked down as the animals looked up.

"Look! Some idiots are going down the Eviscerator!" someone yelled out.

Frida stood frozen. Great, now everyone in the valley thought of her as an idiot. She looked up to see Sid standing on the edge.

"Okay!" he said. "I'm going to jump on the count of three!"

"Sid!" Manny yelled. "Don't move a muscle! We're coming up!"

The animals didn't see it that way. All of them started cheering.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!"

"Jump!" Diego joined in. "Jump! Jump!"

"Knock it off, Diego!" Frida yelled.

"Frida?" he said as his eyes widened.


	4. The Ice is Melting

Frida looked down to see Diego and Manny come up the ice. She felt her paw slip on the ice and quickly backed away from the edge, closing her eyes tightly. She was so high and it would be a long fall.

"Frida!" Diego called. "Come on, it's okay."

"I'm scared", she said shaking her head.

"It'll be okay", he said. "We'll get you down."

Frida slowly opened her eyes to see Diego and Manny next to her. She shakily lifted her paw to step toward them and join them. She walked slowly, her legs shaking with fear. Manny helped pull her over with his trunk.

"Don't ever let me do anything that stupid again", Frida said nuzzling Diego, looking for comfort.

He nodded and nuzzled her back. The three of them turned to see Sid standing on the edge of the Eviscerator getting ready to jump.

"Sid!" Manny said. "What are you doing? Get down from there!"

"No way", Sid said. "I'm gonna be the first to jump off the Eviscerator and then you guys are going to have to start showing me some respect."

"You jump off this thing, the only respect you'll get is respect for the dead."

"Come on, Manny", Diego said shaking his head. "He's not that stupid."

Sid frowned and turned around ready to jump off.

"But I've been wrong before", Diego said doubting what he just said.

Sid jumped off the edge, but before he could fall, Manny wrapped his trunk around him, pulling him back. They slid back on the ice pushing Diego and Frida onto the open ice.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Just dandy", he said getting up.

As they stood, they heard what sounded like ice cracking. They looked down to see the ice cracking beneath their feet.

"Run!" Diego said.

He ran as the ice began breaking. Frida followed him, seeing how scared he was. He had the same look of fear she had when she was stuck on the ice. Diego jumped off the breaking ice, holding onto Manny's trunk.

"Uh, Diego", Manny said. "Retract the claws, please."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Diego climbed off Manny, looking away still a little scared.

"If I didn't know you better, Diego, I'd think you were afraid of the water", Sid teased.

Diego growled and grabbed him by the neck.

"Okay!" he gasped. "Okay, good thing I know you better."

Frida couldn't help but looked at him amused. So she was afraid of heights and Diego was afraid of water. What a pair.

"Guys", Manny said. "Fast Tony was right. Everything's melting."

They looked out to the open ice and gasped to see it had all melted into an endless ocean of water. They could hear ice cracking, knowing it would melt.

"It's all going to flood", Manny said. "Come on, we got to warn them."

"Hmm, maybe we can rapidly evolve into water creatures", Sid absentmindedly thought.

"That's genius, Sid", Diego rolled his eyes.

"Call me Squid."

The four of them walked to climb down the Eviscerator. Before Sid messed it all up.

"This whole thing's a big piece of junk. I can't believe I live here."

Sid jumped on the thin ice, making it crack. They all screamed as they slid down the Eviscerator to the valley below.


	5. A Boat

Frida was hyperventilating as she held onto Manny with her claws. Her eyes were wide open and her fur was standing on end. She didn't know what was going around her, she just needed a breather after falling from such a tall height. She couldn't hear what anyone was saying until. Manny finally pulled her off.

"You okay?" Diego asked.

"I...never want...to do that...again", Frida gasped.

The rest of the animals were all laughing at them, Manny and Sid. Manny was trying to tell them Fast Tony was right about the flood, but everyone just laughed.

"Flood's real, alright, and it's coming fast."

Everyone looked up to see a vulture watching them with an unpleasant smile. This news made him happy because it meant food for him.

"Look around, you're in a bowl", he said mentioning the icy walls around the valley. "Bowl's going to fill up. Ain't no way out."

"What are we going to do?" everyone gasped.

"Unless you make it to the end of the valley", the vulture said. "There's a boat. It can save you. But, y'all better hurry. Ground's melting, walls tumbling, rocks crumbling. Survive that and you'll be racing the water, cause in three days' time, it's going to hit the geyser fields. BOOM!"

The animals all gasped and screamed in fear.

"There is some good news, though", he continued. "The more of you die, the better I eat. I didn't say it was good news for you."

Everyone watched, full of fear as the vulture flew off. No one spoke a positive or negative word about what he said, except for Sid.

"Ooh, he must have been a real pleasure to have in class."

The silence was broken again as the loud noise of ice cracking filled the air. Everyone looked up at the dam to see a large chunk of the ice break free, falling to the ground, The chunk of ice left a large hole in the dam, the only thing keeping the water from flooding the valley.

"Dam!" a beaver said looking at it.

"Alright, you heard the scary vulture", Manny said. "Let's move out."

"Manny", Diego said sounding worried. "Do you really think there's a boat?"

"I don't know", he answered. "But in a few days, this place is going to be underwater. If there's any hope, it's that way."

The group headed away from the pools out to the direction the vulture said the boat was. Frida looked at Diego noticing how scared he looked, thinking about how the valley was going to flood.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You're not scared are you?"

"Scared?" Diego scoffed. "I'm not scared of anything."

"Yeah", she chuckled. "Right. Diego, you're my best friend. You can be honest with me."

He looked away not saying a word. Frida smiled and nudged him before walking. Diego chuckled and followed her. She looked back at him with a smile, flicking her tail in front of his face, flirting with him a bit. He looked at her, not understanding why she did that.

"Girls", he mumbled rolling his eyes.


	6. The Last Mammoth

Manny was helping direct the traffic as everyone in the valley started their long journey to the boat the vulture told them about. Sid was mushing berries in his hands and stuffing his face with them.

"Hey, Manny I just heard you're going extinct", he said with his mouth full.

Frida frowned in disgust and stepped away from him. Diego smirked and looked at Sid.

"Hey, if you ever master hygiene, try working on sensitivity", he said giving advice Sid would more than likely never take.

"I'm not going extinct!" Manny said.

Just as he said that, the jerk aardvark walked by with his kids with a smile.

"Kids, look!" he said. "The last mammoth. Well, probably won't see another one of those again."

The kids looked at Manny impressed. The aardvark looked forward with a smug smile. Frida growled at him, making him back away.

"Look, just ignore the guy", she said turning to Manny. "He's just a jerk."

"Whatever", he said shaking his head. "Let's just get going."

The four of them walked through the valley in silence. Sid broke the silence as he started to sing really bad songs every few hours.

_"Some day, when you've gone extinct. When you make a stink-"_

"Shut up, Sid", Manny said.

The rest of the day was spent walking. The group continued walking into the night and soon enough, Sid started up again.

_"Stop! Hey, what's that sound? All the mammoths are in the ground-"_

"Stop singing, Sid."

The rest of the night was spent walking in silence up into the next day. Sid wouldn't take the hint and kept singing.

"If your species will continue, clap your hands. If your species-"

"Sid, I'm going to fall on you again, and this time I will kill you."

"Okay", he shrugged. "Somebody doesn't like the classics."

Sid finally decided to stop singing. They walked through the woods, noticing the ice was indeed melting everywhere. Everything was green and covered with water from freshly melted ice. Manny sighed and looked at his reflecting in the melting icicles.

"What if you're right?" he asked. "What if I am the last mammoth?"

"But Manny, look at the bright side", Sid said. "You have us."

"Not your most persuasive argument, Sid", Diego said.

Frida rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Manny", she said. "I know it's hard being alone. I know it, I was alone for a long time. I was the only saber while I lived with the humans. You have to know it's not a bad thing as long as you're around people who love you. You're never truly alone."

Everyone stopped when they heard a loud trumpeting sound in the distance.

"Mammoths?" Diego asked with a smile.

"I knew I couldn't be the last one!" Manny said. "I felt it in my gut!"

He scooped Sid up onto his back and ran toward the direction the noise came from. Frida and Diego ran through the woods following him. They turned through the trees trying to find the source of the noise. Sid was thrown off as Manny, Diego and Frida stopped in their tracks seeing a large hairy animal instead.

"Sorry", he moaned. "My stomach hates me."

Everyone backed away when they realized what the sound was.

"Don't that put the stink in extinction", Sid said.

Manny turned around feeling let down. He walked into the woods.

"I need to be alone for a while", he said. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

"One truly is the loneliest number", Sid sighed.

Frida and Diego looked at him and shook their heads.


	7. Possums

"Ow!" Frida yelled. "What the heck?"

She, Sid and Diego were hit with pebbles out of nowhere. They looked around to see two possums with reeds, shooting the rocks at them.

"Hey!" Frida yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like?"

The possum shot another rock at her head. Diego roared and swiped his paw at the possums, making them fall from the tree and ran off.

"Missed me! Missed me! Now you got to kiss me!"

"I'll get them!" Sid said chasing after the possums who hid in holes in the ground. Frida rolled her eyes and followed him, not trusting Sid to get anything done right. Sure enough, his head was stuck in the hole while the possums just watched.

"Which end is up?" one of them asked.

Sid pulled his head out of the hole making the possums laugh.

"I'd hide that face too."

The possums ducked down into their holes, making Sid look ridiculous trying to catch them. Frida sighed as she stood over them.

"Think you're pretty funny, don't you?" she asked baring her teeth.

The possums screamed, driving back into their holes, making Frida join Sid in trying to catch them. The possums laughed as they popped out of holes far away from them until they heard footsteps.

"Uh, oh", the said realizing who it could be.

"Boo", Diego smirked looking at them.

The possums screamed and ducked back into their holes. Diego joined in trying to catch them with Frida and Sid. The three of them used every paw and hand they could to cover the holes, trying to trap the possums. The possums jumped out of every hole they could while shooting rocks at the three bigger animals until they were tangled up in each other.

"Do you surrender?" the possums asked.

"Never!" the three of them said.

"Cool."

The possums jumped out of their holes and shot as many rocks as they could at Diego, Frida and Sid, making them collapse on each other.

"If anyone asks, there were 50 of them", Diego said. "And, uh, they were...rattlesnakes."

"Yeah, like they'll believe that", Frida scoffed.

The possums jumped out of the holes laughing and mocking Diego and Frida.

"Here, kitty, kitty!"

"Big mistake, you miscreants!" Diego said.

The possums just laughed at the name he used while he just glared.

"Uh, Diego they're possums", Sid said.

Frida and Diego rolled their eyes, not wanting to explain what the word meant. The possums continued mocking them, acting like chickens to prove their point. Diego roared as he got up and ran after the possums who ran away, screaming. Frida followed him, wanting to punish those two rodents for their behavior. Sid brought up the rear just to keep with the group.

* * *

"Any idea where they're going?" Frida asked as they continued to chase the possums.

"Who cares?" Diego said. "As long as we get them."

"Help!" the possums cried. "Help!"

As they turned around the corner, they stopped at the sight of another mammoth. Not just that, it was a female mammoth too.

"Well, shave me down and call me a mole rat!" Sid smiled. "You found another mammoth!"

"Where?" she gasped. "Wait a minute, I thought mammoths were extinct?"

Everyone looked at the female confused and thought she was crazy. Did she not know a mammoth when she saw one? She looked back at them feeling just as confused.

"What are you looking at me for?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know", Manny said. "Maybe because you're a mammoth?"

"Me? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not a mammoth. I'm a possum!"

"Right, good one. I'm a newt. This is my friend, the badger and his girlfriend. And my other friend, the platypus."

"Girlfriend?" Diego asked. "It's just friend. We're just friends."

Frida looked at him, feeling a bit hurt that friend was all he saw her as. She sighed and looked back at the mammoth, watching as the possums climbed onto her tusks.

"This guy giving you trouble, sis?" they asked.

"Sis?!" everyone said.

"That's right", the female smiled. "These are my brother. Possum, possum, possum."

"I don't think her tree goes all the way to the top branch", Manny whispered.


	8. Relationships

Everyone looked at Ellie speechless. She stood with an innocent, but dumb smile, completely convinced that she was a possum.

"Manny, brink of extinction", Sid whispered, reminding Manny of the rumors. "It's a bad time to be picky."

Frida gasped and looked at Sid. Did he really just say that? They had just met the poor girl and right away he suggested that Manny mate with her! No wonder he couldn't get a girl.

"Hey, she should come with us", Sid said with a smile.

"Are you insane?" Manny asked. "No way."

"Okay", he shrugged and turned Ellie. "Manny asked me to ask you if you'd like to escape the flood with us."

"I'd rather be roadkill!" the possums said getting close into Diego and Frida's faces.

"That can be arranged!" he growled.

"Funny!" Ellie nervously giggled. "Let me have a little word with my brothers."

She pulled the possums away to talk to them. Manny angrily started talking to Sid leaving the two tigers feel left out.

"Can you believe Sid?" Frida asked.

"What?" Diego asked.

"That pig", she growled. "Suggesting that she and Manny should get together right off the bat. He really has no consideration for others."

"I just ignore him. What he says is not my problem."

Frida's ears flattened against her head as she sighed. Men... They would never understand the sensitivity women had. What made it even worse was when Diego joined in on the conversation.

"Why did you invite them?" Manny asked.

"Because you two might be the only mammoths left", Sid answered.

"He's got a point", Diego added.

Frida looked at them in disgust. So Diego approved of this whole mating thing. Maybe they had no consideration but she did. It would be nice if Ellie came. Then she wouldn't be the only girl in the herd.

"My brothers and I would be delighted to come", Ellie said.

"If you treat us nicely", Crash said getting in Diego's face, making him mad. "See that? That's the total opposite of nice."

"Maybe we'll have ourselves a little snack before we hit the road", Diego said turning away.

"You want a piece of us? Let's go!"

Right away, Crash jumped up, attacking Diego as he pulled on his eyelids. Sid ran to help, but was chased off by Eddie who used his tail as a whip. Frida growled and swiped her paw at the one on Diego, knocking him to the ground. Diego growled and opened his mouth to eat the little rodent, but the possum grabbed onto his fangs.

"You know the best part?" he asked. "We're carrying diseases!"

The chaos was interrupted by shaking and rumbling. The dam back at the water pools was continuing to break apart, reminding everyone what they were supposed to be doing.

"Okay, thanks to Sid, we're all traveling together", Manny said. "And like it or not, we're going to be one big happy family. I'll be the daddy. Ellie will be the mommy. Frida and Diego will be the aunt and uncle who eat the kids that get on my nerves. Now let's move it before the ground falls out from under our feet!"

"I thought fat guys were supposed to be jolly?" Ellie asked.

"And I'm not fat!" he added. "It's this fur, it makes me look big. It's poofy."

"Oh, okay. He's fat."

Frida looked at Diego and turned away as they walked, disappointed with the way he acted. He noticed she was giving him the cold shoulder and walked with her.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"You agree that Manny and Ellie should get together just like that?" she asked. "I thought you knew sensitivity? They need to get to know each other. Who's to say they'll get together anyway? Why isn't the same said for us? You and I are the only tigers left in the valley. Why don't we get together?"

"I'm not looking for a relationship", Diego answered. "I'm fine with the way things are."

Frida looked at him feeling hurt that he would tell her that. She was very close and was hoping they would have a relationship.

"Now you know how Manny feels", she mumbled. "And you and Sid are practically forcing him into this."

She looked away from him and just walked off.


	9. Water Not Safe

The rest of the day was spent moving very slowly. Ellie, strongly convinced that she was a possum spent the whole time trying hide from predators with Eddie and Crash. Manny was growing frustrated trying to convince she was a mammoth. Frida still wasn't talking to Diego. She was still very hurt from what he said, that he just wanted to stay friends and wanted no relationship with her.

At the moment, they were walked over ice, trying to catch up with all the animals that were far ahead of them. Diego was all the way in the back walking slowly, afraid of the ice breaking.

"Diego, there are whole continents moving faster than you!" Manny yelled. "Hurry up, we got to catch up with the others!"

Diego continued to move slowly, looking at the ice worried. Everyone else didn't seem to worry, especially the possums who were having the time of their lives, slipping and sliding on the ice.

"Hey, knock it off!" Diego said.

"Cry me a river, blubber-tooth tiger", Crash mocked. "Have some fun."

"Can't you see the ice is thin enough without you two wearing it down?" he asked.

"Diego, come on", Sid said. "The ice may be thin, but it's strong enough to hold a 10-ton mammoth and a nine-ton possum."

Diego looked at them unsure but continued to walk. Frida looked back at him and shook her head. Scaredy-cat, afraid of water. Then again, she was one to talk. Scaredy-cat, afraid of heights.

The group walked in silence, having nothing to say to each other. The silence was broken when a large creature broke through the ice. Everyone screamed as they were separated on different pieces of ice.

"Mammal overboard!" Sid yelled as he fell into the water.

"Diego!" Frida called out, worried about him.

She saw he was frozen stiff, hanging onto a floating piece of ice with all of his claws. She gasped and looked at Sid who was swimming toward him with the water creature right behind him.

"Diego, run!" Frida yelled.

He stood there frozen, completely scared of the water and the creature running toward him. Frida watched as the creature swam faster to Sid and Diego who refused to move. She had to do something to help. Frida growled and jumped from the ice, onto the creature's back, digging her teeth and claws into its scaly skin. The creature growled as it swam erratically, trying to get her off.

"Run!" she yelled at Diego and Sid.

"This may sting a little", Sid said.

He grabbed Diego's tail and bit it, bring him back to his senses. Frida held onto the creature tightly as it jumped through the air, trying to get Diego and Sid as they ran to safety. The two of them made it to solid ground, making the creature stop, throwing Frida off, sliding into the dirt.

"Are you okay?" Diego asked.

"Am I okay?" she asked. "Are you okay? What happened? You just froze out there."

"That...thing..."

The three of them watched as Ellie and the possums got off the ice, making it to solid ground, leaving Manny with another one of those water creatures. The creature jumped up for the kill, but was caught on Manny's tusks. Everyone watched as he chucked the creature back into the water, walking to dry land.

"What in the animal kingdom was that?" Sid asked watching as the two creatures went back underwater.

"I don't know", Diego said. "But from now on, land - safe. Water - not safe."

They turned to rejoin with Ellie and the possums who watched Manny.

"That was the bravest thing I have ever seen", she said.

"It was nothing", Manny smiled.

"Oh, it's not a compliment. To a possum, bravery's just dumb."

"Yeah, we're spineless", Crash said.

"Lilly-livered", Eddie added.

"Maybe mammoths are going extinct because they get in danger", Ellie said walking off. "Maybe you should run away more. "

Manny looked at her frustrated.

"Can you believe her?" he asked. "Bravery's just dumb. Maybe you should run away more. She's so infuriating and narrow-minded!"

"Ooh!" Sid smiled. "You like her!"

"I do not!"

Frida shook her head with a smile. Manny was in denial, just like a little kid who had a crush on a girl.

"Don't worry", Sid said. "You're secret's safe with me. Oh, and so's yours."

"What secret?" Diego asked.

"You know. The one where you can't swim."

"That's ridiculous."

Frida watched Diego and smirked. He was proving Sid's point by not even walking through a little puddle of water! Guys were always in denial.

"We're living in a melting world, buddy", Sid said as he walked through the puddle. "You're going to have to get over your fear sooner or later."


	10. Lessons

The journey across the valley was still going incredibly slow. Ellie and the possums were more interested in having fun. Sid was still pushing Manny to pursue a relationship with Ellie, which he still tried avoiding. Diego was still going along with it, which Frida still disagreed with. The possums slowed down their progress big-time when Crash decided to pull a bad joke involving playing dead.

Right now, as the sun was setting, the group was still traveling. Manny was moving falling logs off the path. Diego noticed how he was watching Ellie play with the possums without a care in the world.

"She's not half bad", he said. "Crazy and confused, but...sweet."

"So?" Manny asked.

"So, what's holding you back?"

"My family."

Frida and Diego looked at each other, feeling bad for Manny. Sid crawled into the log Manny was lifting up.

"You can have that again, you know", he said.

"No, Sid I can't", Manny said swinging the log.

"Okay, b-but, if you let this go, you're letting your whole species go! And that's just...that's just selfish!"

Manny glared at Sid and threw the log off the path. Frida rolled her eyes. Sid saying the wrong things again. Diego just smirked as he walked by knowing Sid's reasoning wasn't working.

"I think I'm starting to get through to him", Sid cheerfully said.

Frida sighed and watched how Manny went off with Ellie. Looked like they were going to spend some time together. She looked at Diego longingly. If only they could get together the way Manny and Ellie appeared to be. Frida continued down the path, going ahead of Diego and Sid who looked back at Manny and Ellie.

"Frida?" Diego said.

She continued down the path and sat down in the grass, watching the sunset. Diego pulling away from her was really hurting her and she was unsure if she could continue to let him do that. She was honestly thinking of giving him an ultimatum. Either give a relationship with her a chance or lose her as a friend. Frida wasn't sure if she could just stay his friend. Looking at Diego every day knowing they could've been more would hurt so much.

"Frida."

She turned and looked at Diego who caught up with her.

"Diego..."

Frida leaned in and nuzzled him softly. He looked at her and just nuzzled her back. They had a long and exhausting day. He figured she was just tired. Sid watched the two of them and smiled. He picked up a couple of rocks to start a fire as they settled down for the night.

"Boy, Manny sure took a big leap with Ellie today", he said.

"He sure did", Diego said laying down.

"He stood on the shore of uncertainty and dove right in. Splash! Kind of brave, huh? The way he faced his fear."

"I wouldn't know", Diego said. "Sabers don't feel fear."

"Really, Diego?" Frida chuckled. "Then what do you call freezing up at the water today?"

She giggled as she watched him flatten his ears against his head, having no answer for that.

"Come on, all animals feel fear", Sid said. "It's what separates us from, say, rocks. Rocks have no fear."

He tossed the rock in his hand into a puddle behind him.

"And they sink."

"What are you getting at, Sid?" Diego asked uninterested.

"It may surprise you to know that I, too, have experienced fear", Sid said.

"No!" Frida smirked. "You?"

"Yeah. Yes, as impossible as it seems, the sloth has natural enemies that would like to harm or otherwise "kill" us."

"I wonder why", Diego rolled his eyes.

"Jealousy, mostly", he answered. "But the point is, fear is natural."

Sid gasped as Diego walked up to his face, growling and baring his teeth.

"Fear is for prey."

As Frida watched as Sid gave basic lessons on swimming to her and Diego, she couldn't help but watch Diego. His voice saying fear was for prey made her weak in the knees. If only he would give her a chance.

"You know, most animals can swim like babies", Sid said demonstrating. "And for a tiger, it's like crawling on your belly to stalk helpless prey. But faster, okay?"

He hung from vines to show them how to move, much to Diego's annoyance.

"Now, claw, kick, claw, kick. I'm stalking the prey. Claw, kick. I look back over my shoulder to see if I'm being followed. And I'm breathing. And I'm stalking and I'm stalking and I'm..."

Diego finally stuck his claw out, snapping the vine, making Sid fall to the ground.

"I'm falling."

"Correction", Diego said standing over him. "You're sinking...kind of like a rock."


	11. Tense Walk

Frida, Diego and Sid sat around the fire with a smile. Manny and Ellie had been gone for a while, leaving the three of them. They looked up as they heard Manny's heavy footsteps approaching.

"So, how did it go?" Diego asked.

"Hmm, not bad", Manny answered.

Ellie came walking by looking as angry as everyone had seen her. Manny took a look and groaned frustrated. Apparently, it didn't go as good as he said if it made him react that way and made her angry. She stepped into a puddle of water, splashing it onto the fire, putting it out. Everyone looked at the fire confused and turned to Ellie.

"Okay, let's go", she said. "We followed you all day. Now you're coming with us at night."

"But, we can't see at night", Manny said.

"Then enjoy the flood."

The three of them watched as she led the way with the possums on her back. The two of them kept their arms crossed and their noses in the air. Something was obviously wrong, especially when the possums talked out loud about Manny.

"I can't even look at him", Eddie said.

"Pervert!" Crash yelled at Manny.

All of them looked very surprised and looked back at Manny.

"Whoa", Frida said. "What did you do?"

"The last time I ever take Sid's advice", he answered.

She looked at him with wide eyes and full of understanding. So he finally started showing affection to Ellie, then brought up the issue of the species going extinct. What a horrible move, and all on the same day they just met. Frida looked at Manny who looked incredibly angry and understandably so. She rushed ahead and walked by her.

"Hey, Ellie."

The female mammoth glanced at her before looking ahead.

"Look, I know Manny made a horrible move", Frida said. "But, you know...boys, right? What are you going to do about them?"

She watched as the mammoth sighed. She looked thoughtful as she didn't say a thing. Frida looked back at the boys who were having a hard time keeping up. The night had brought in the fog making it twice as hard for them to see. To top it all off, the possums were treating the boys just as bad as Manny.

"I thought we could walk together", Manny said walking close to Ellie.

"Crash, ask the mammoth why he thinks that", Ellie said not wanting to talk.

"She says she thinks you're a jerk and to go away!" Crash said.

Frida knew Ellie was mad, but this was crazy. She started to growl as the possums made things worse.

"Look", Manny said pushing the matter. "Maybe if we spend more time together-"

He was cut off when his foot ran into a stone hidden by the fog.

"Tell him I need a little personal space right now", Ellie said.

"She said go jump in a lake", Crash told Manny.

"And possums rule", Eddie added not helping.

"I can hear her, you know", Manny said.

"What do you want, a medal?"

The two possums walked ahead and unexpectedly fell beneath the fog, out of sight. Ellie gasped and rushed to the edge to find them. The ground suddenly shifted as the group found themselves on a pile of rocks moving in opposite directions. Manny and Ellie were stuck on the top with Diego hanging onto the edge. Sid was on the middle rock and Frida was stuck on the bottom with the possums.

"Stop moving!" Diego yelled trying to climb onto the edge.

The rocks stopped moving as all the animals stopped as well.

"Thank you", he sighed.


	12. Working Together

The rock at the top of the pile cracked and started to fall with Manny and Diego on it. Diego looked down and held on tightly with his claws.

"Manny, Ellie, lock trunks!"" he ordered.

Manny looked at Ellie unsure, but she looked back refusing to do it.

"Now!" Diego yelled.

The two mammoths looked at each other and wrapped their trunks together, choosing to live. Diego looked down beneath him, looking at Frida who had her arms wrapped around the possums, keeping them from falling.

"Frida, grab onto the ledge!" Diego yelled.

Eddie and Crash looked up at Frida. Her arms were keeping them safe, they were afraid if she let go, they would fall.

"Funny!" Eddie laughed. "Now what's you're real plan?"

"Hey, hey", Frida said. "It's okay, I got it."

She watched as the ledge came closer. As she stood up, she looked down as Crash and Eddie grabbed onto her legs, scared. She reached out and grabbed onto the ledge, holding on with her claws. Everyone's attention was caught as Manny started to speak.

"Uh, I'm sorry if what I said offended you."

"What do you mean "if" it offended mean?" Ellie asked.

Ellie pulled away from Manny, making the rocks move. Frida yelled as she slipped off the rock, her claws keeping her hanging onto the ledge. She yelled in fear as she tried her best to hold on. Why did Manny choose to apologize at a time like this?

"That it offended her!" Crash corrected. "That it offended her!"

"I mean that!" Manny said. "That it offended you. You just overreacted."

"What?!" Ellie yelled pulling away.

"Take it back!" Crash yelled. "There are other lives at stake here!"

"Manny, just shut up!" Frida yelled. "You're making it worse!"

"Wait a minute!" Sid said. "He's got a point!"

"He's got nothing!" the possums argued.

"SHUT UP!" Frida yelled. "Stop fighting before we all die!"

She reached up, trying to claw her way to solid ground. Diego looked at her and knew she was going to fall to her death unless they reached the ledge and helped her. He looked at the two mammoths know they were the only chance they had.

"Apologize!" Diego yelled to Manny.

"Why me?" he asked. "She overreacted!"

"Just apologize!"

"No!"

"We're going to die!" Frida screamed.

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Ellie yelled.

"WHAT?" everyone said.

"He's right, I overreacted."

The rocks continued to move until Sid reached the ledge. He reached out and tried to grab on, but fell off instead. He reached down and helped Frida up but noticed his mistake a little late. The rocks began to fall apart due to the lack of balance.

"Manny, Ellie, run!" Diego yelled.

Crash and Eddie ran and jumped off the rock, onto the ledge. Manny and Ellie ran off their rock and onto the ledge. Diego climbed onto the rock and ran acoss the rock, trying to reach the ledge. He jumped as high as he could, unable to reach the ledge. Ellie and Manny wrapped their trunks around his paws, holding him up.

"I guess we finally did something right", Ellie said with a smile, making Manny smile back.

"Don't mind me here, just hanging off the edge of a cliff here", Diego chuckled nervously.

The two mammoths pulled the saber onto the ledge. Diego sighed in relief and looked down behind him seeing how horrible he would have died in he fell.

"Diego", Frida sighed relieved and nuzzled him.

She came close to losing him again and was so glad that she didn't. The two of them needed to talk about where their relationship was going to go. Were they going to stay friends or become more than that?


	13. I Love You

Frida watched as Sid started up another fire. No more walking in the dark. After what just happened, they weren't taking anymore risks. Frida looked at Diego who was sitting by the fire, looking at it with a smile.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she sat next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine", he answered. "Why?"

"When I saw you hanging over that cliff, I was so scared. I almost thought we weren't going to make it off of those rocks."

"But it's okay", Diego answered. "We made it out of there and we're alright now."

"For now", Frida sighed.

Tomorrow was the day the vulture said the dam would finally burst, flooding the valley. They had traveled for two days and they had not made it to the end of the valley with any boat in sight. Would they make it in time?

"Diego?" Frida softly said.

He looked at her with a friendly smile. She sighed and walked into the woods. Diego looked at her and followed her. He was beginning to worry about her. She was acting different ever since Ellie joined the group. Diego followed Frida through the trees, stopping when he found her sitting at the rocky cliff they were just at earlier.

"Frida?"

Frida looked down at the canyon below them. She came so close to not losing her own life, but Diego as well. As Frida looked down, her fear began coming back. They were so high up, and any false move could send her falling. Her legs shook as she began to get dizzy. Everything was spinning, and she felt her legs give away.

"Frida!"

Diego stood next to her, keeping her from falling. Frida looked up at Diego, her vision correcting itself.

"Diego..."

Frida nuzzled him softly. He watched her and nuzzled her back. He didn't know what was going on, but he hoped she would be okay.

"I love you..." Frida softly said.

Diego's eyes widened as he looked at her. He quickly backed away shaking his head as if he misunderstood.

"Whoa, whoa!" he said. "What?"

She looked at him slightly hurt and stepped forward, toward him.

"I said I love you. Diego...I've been waiting for a while to tell you this. I've been in love with you for a long time."

"How long?" he asked.

"Ever since our journey to Glacier Pass years go", she answered. "Diego..."

Diego backed away again. Love? He wasn't looking for love. Frida was his best friend. Why did she have to bring this up? This was going to complicate everything.

"Diego, please say something", Frida said.

"What's there to say?" he asked. "I'm not looking for love. This is not the right time. I need some time to think."

Frida watched as Diego turned away and walked back to the herd. She stood on the cliff feeling incredibly hurt. She lowered her head as tears fell from her eyes, streaming down her fur. Frida loved Diego, but now it look like she may have lost him. She may have lost her best friend. Frida collapsed on the ground as she cried to herself.

Diego stopped as he heard her cries. He didn't know what to do. Frida was his best friend, that was all. He wasn't in love, nor did he want an intimate relationship. He continued walking back to the group. He was going to leave her alone tonight. It was for the best. He looked to see Sid asleep on a piece of tree bark. Manny was asleep on the ground. Ellie was sleeping in a tree by her tail with the possums. Diego sighed as he curled up by the fire, closing his eyes.


	14. Split-Up

Frida stayed by the cliff for the rest of the night. She didn't want to be around Diego after breaking her heart like that. She loved him and him turning her down like that hurt her so deep. It made it hard for her to sleep at all that night.

As the sun rose the next morning, Frida sighed as she sat up. Well, it was now or never. She had to join back with the group or stay by hersel and risk drowning.

"Water?" she heard Diego begin to panic. "Water!"

Water? There shouldn't be any water in this area. Frida rushed back to the group to see there was a lot more water than the night before. Diego looked at the water worried, his fear of the water clearly showing. Frida didn't know whether to feel sorry or him or felt he deserved it.

"What's happening?" Ellie asked.

"We overslept", Manny answered. "We need to get moving."

"What if we're the last creatures left alive?" Eddie asked. "We'll have to repopulate the earth!"

"How?" Crash asked. "Everyone's either a dude, our sister, or someone who'd want to kill us first."

Frida looked at them, growling. Darn right she would rather kill those two possums than breed with them.

"Oh, hey."

Everyone turned to see Sid walk back to the group from the thick trees.

"You'll never guess what happened to me last night", he said.

"I'm going to go out on a whim and say you were sleepwalking", Diego guessed.

"Oh, no", Sid said. "I was kidnapped by a tribe of mini-sloths."

"That was going to be my second guess."

"And they worshipped me!" he continued. "I mean, sure they tossed me into a flaming tar pit, but they worshiped me!"

"Sid, you were dreaming", Manny said. "Come on, the water's rising faster than we're moving."

"I'm telling you, I was kidnapped", Sid said trying to convince everyone. "I was worshiped. Guys? Fine."

* * *

The whole day was rough for everyone. The vultures were stalking the heard, making the journey more difficult, even going so far as to try and kill them. All they wanted to do was eat the flesh off their dead bodies.

By late afternoon, the group stopped as they looked ahead of them. There it was. The extremely large boat, big enough to hold all of the animals in the valley.

"We made it", Diego sighed with a smile.

"Yeah, we showed those scary vultures!" Sid smiled.

Everyone cheered knowing they were saved. The smiled hoping to get onto the boat without any problems. Everyone screamed when they saw steam bursting out from the ground. They had reached the active geyser field.

"Oh, it's just a little hot water and steam", Sid shrugged. "How bad can it be?"

They watched a lone dodo bird walk across the geyser field. The poor thing was hit unexpected by the hot water and steam, sending it to the sky. The dodo came back down, dead and cooked.

"I just did something involuntary...and messy", Sid whimpered.

Frida looked at Diego worried. Was going through this the only choice they had? Manny walked out onto the field, but jumped back when a geyser erupted in front of him, nearly burning the fur off of his body.

"Manny, get back!" Diego yelled. "It's a minefield out there!"

"There's only one way to go", Manny said. "Straight through."

"Straight through?" Ellie asked. "We'd like to keep the fur on our bodies, thank you. We'll head back and go around."

"There's no time. The dam will burst before we make it. We'll drown."

"If we go through this, we'll get blown to bits."

"We go forward!" Manny yelled.

"We go back!" Ellie yelled.

"Forward!"

"Back!"

"Can I say something?" Diego asked trying to break up the fight.

"No!" they both said.

"You are so...stubborn and hard-headed!" Manny said in frustration.

"Well, I guess that proves it", Ellie said. "I am a mammoth."

She turned and walked back to find a way around the geysers. Crash and Eddie looked at the group hesitant to leave, but chose to go with their sister. Frida watched them leave and turned to Diego.

"They're going to need someone to protect them", she said. "I'm going to go with them."

"Frida, you don't have to", Diego said. "How are you going to make it back on time?"

"I'll be alright", she said. "You're the one with the phobia of water. You need to get on the boat."

Frida looked at Diego. She was scared that she might not make it to the boat on time. Ellie and the possums did need someone in case there were any predators around. Frida nuzzled Diego before turning to join Ellie. Diego watched her, hoping that she would come back safe.


	15. Trapped

"Do you have any idea where to go?" Frida asked Ellie.

"I think so", she answered. "It's a lot better than going through that freaky place."

Frida's ears flattened against her head as they walked through the woods trying to get to the boat, using a safe route. She hoped Diego would get on the boat safely with the others. She hoped he was alright and wasn't killed by the geysers. Frida looked up at Ellie who was still frustrated with Manny. Crash and Eddie looked as worried as she was.

As they left the woods, the ground began to shake. The dam was going to break.

"Run!" Frida yelled.

The four of them ran as fast as they could. The gorge they were walking through shook violently with the stone structures coming apart as they ran for their lives.

"There it is!" Ellie pointed.

The ground continued to shake around them. Ellie and Frida screamed as part of a structure came apart, falling down on top of them. The stone walls around them saved them from getting crushed. Another large stone fell behind them, blocking their path back. Frida, Ellie and the possums ran as fast as they could to the only opening there was left. The path was blocked as another large stone came falling down, trapping them inside.

"No!" Frida screamed seeing they were trapped at the time they could be killed.

"Come on, push!" Eddie said as they tried to push the stone out of the way.

Even with Ellie's strength, her, Frida and the possums could not move the stone even an inch. There was no way out for them except for a hole small enough for the possums.

"You guys got to go", Ellie said.

"We're not leaving you!" Crash said.

"I'm not asking."

She wrapped her trunk around them and picked them up. She pushed them through the hole, out to freedom.

"Don't worry!" Eddie said. "We're going for help!"

"Stay here!" Crash added.

"Duh!" Ellie answered.

"I'm so scared", Frida said beginning to panic. "Maybe we should've gone with the boys. We're going to die a slow and painful death."

She paced back and forth trying to think of a way to get out. The panic was making her mind go blank. All she thought about was how she was going to drown to death in a cave with Ellie. She wished Diego was there with her.

"Diego..." Frida cried.

She collapsed to the ground and sobbed. She was going to die and Diego wouldn't know until it was too late. At least he was safe from the flood, even if they were not going to be together. He would go on living without her. Ellie looked at her and pulled her up with her trunk.

"Snap out of it!" she said.

"We're going to die!" Frida panicked.

"We're not going to die", Ellie said. "Crash and Eddie will get help. We'll get out of here and onto the boat."

The girls gasped as they felt the ground continue to rumble. They heard a loud noise that sounded a lot like rushing water. They whimpered when they looked down to see water leaking into the cave. The dam had burst. The valley was flooding. They were doomed.


	16. Don't Forget Me, Diego

Frida and Ellie whimpered as the water leaked through the cracks in the makeshift cave. Ellie continued trying to push the rock away from the opening to get them free. Frida was too scared to do anything. She was a lot smaller than Ellie, and the water was already reaching up to her knees and elbows.

"Ellie!" they heard outside.

"Manny?" Ellie gasped.

"Manny!" Frida called out. "Where's Diego? Is he safe on the boat?"

"I don't know where he is", he answered. "We'll worry about that later, I have to get you out!"

The girls continued pushing against the stone, trying to help Manny free them. As hard as they might try, the rock just wouldn't budge. Frida gasped as the water rose higher. She and Ellie weren't going to last long. Frida held onto Ellie, trying to stay afloat. She could no longer touch the ground.

"Ellie, hold onto me!" Manny said.

The girls gasped as they looked at each other. It was completely hopeless. They were going to die. Ellie reached out her trunk, pushing it through a tiny hole in the cave. Manny reached out his trunk and wrapped it around Ellie's.

"Ellie!" Frida coughed as the water rose higher.

The girls practically had their heads pressed against the top of the ceiling. Frida looked up at the hole as the water closed in around her.

"DIEGO!" she screamed before being completely submerged.

Frida kicked her legs, moving around. It wouldn't do any good, but she couldn't just lay down and die. She looked at Ellie who sat against the wall looking scared. Was she accepting their death. Frida couldn't hold her breath anymore. She looked around hoping to find a corner of the cave that still had a bit of air or something, but there was nothing.

Frida opened her mouth unable to do anything. What little air she had left her and was replaced by water rushing in. Frida screamed as she started breathing in water. Her throat and lungs burned as they began to feel with water. Her body began to go limp as she looked up at the small hole where the last bit of sunlight was.

_Diego...please don't...forget me..._

Ellie's eyes widened as Frida's body sank to the ground almost weightless. She wrapped her trunk around her and shook her, trying to snap her out of it. Ellie looked at Frida scared and worried that she might've just died. She didn't even notice Manny had finally freed her from the cave.

* * *

Diego stood on the last bit of solid ground with Sid and the possums. Crash and Eddie informed Manny about Ellie and Frida trapped in cave, and all of them ran to rescue the girls. Manny was currently in the water trying to free the girls, but ran into trouble when those two water monsters they saw on the other end of the valley caught up with them.

Thanks to Sid's good intentions, but stupidity, Diego had finally conquered his fear of the water. He had swam for the first time to get to safe ground with Sid and the possums. Right now they were worried about Manny and the girls. They had been underwater for too long.

"There they are!" Crash pointed to the two mammoth trunks coming up from the water.

They all started to cheer except for Diego. Manny and Ellie looked alright, but Frida... Sid and the possums stopped cheering once they saw her too. She laid across Manny's tusks completely limp and still. Once the mammoths reached land, Sid pulled Frida off and laid her down on the ground. She still wasn't moving.

"Frida?" Diego said.

His eyes widened when he noticed how still she was. Her chest was completely still as well. Frida was not breathing.


	17. Breathe for Me

"Frida..."

Diego nuzzled her softly, seeing it had no effect. Frida laid there unmoving, lifeless.

"Is she...?" Eddie asked unable to finish.

Diego sat there, feeling his heart begin to break. He didn't love her the way she loved him, but he did care deeply about her. She was his best friend, he couldn't imagine life without her at all. Diego looked at Frida and nuzzled her softly.

Sid looked at Frida and looked at Diego seeing how torn apart he was. He smiled when he thought of something that could work. He rolled Frida onto her stomach and sat on top of her.

"What are you doing?" Diego asked. "Get off her!"

"Trust me, this will help", Sid said.

Everyone looked at Sid, not understanding what he was doing. Sid sat on her and pushed on her back, watching a small stream of water trickling down the corner of her mouth. He continued pushing on her back, trying to make her cough up all the water.

"Sid, it's not working", Manny said. "Just...leave her body alone."

"No, no!" Sid said. "This will work. I promise!"

Diego sat next to Frida, watching Sid continue to work. He honestly hoped this would work. He wanted his best friend back. He wanted to make up for hurting her so bad.

"Come on, Frida", he said. "Come on, breathe. Breathe for me."

Diego nuzzled her gently, almost trying to encourage her to come back. The two mammoths and the possums watched worried. They did not want to lose a good friend. Sid continued pushing on Frida's back forcing the water out of her. Diego watched as she continued to lay lifeless. It looked hopeless with her laying there and the water continuing to rise.

"Sid", Manny said wrapping his trunk around him, pulling him off her. "It's over."

Everyone gasped as they looked at the boat. It floated safely on the water with every animal in the valley safe aboard. The group huddled together as the water continued to rise. Diego stood over Frida's body almost protectively. If they were going to die, they would die together.

"You're the most best friend I've ever had", he whispered in her ear. "I love you."

Out of nowhere, a loud cracking sound filled the air. Everyone looked up at the icy walls of the valley to see it cracking. The wall was breaking with the help of some unknown force. They watched to see the walls separating, letting the water drain out of the valley. No one knew what happened, only knowing them being saved like that was a miracle.

If only the same thing could be said for Frida. Diego nuzzled her, about ready to leave her there. His ear twitched as he heard a choking sound. Everyone looked down to see Frida cough up more water inside her, shivering as she breathed. She opened her eyes and shivered as she saw everyone.

"Frida?" Diego gasped. "I thought you were...we all thought."

"Nine lives, baby", Frida reminded him with a smile.

Diego chuckled and laid his head over hers, nuzzling her affectionately.

"Don't ever scare me like that again", he said. "I don't want to lose my best friend."

"Your best friend?" she said looking down. "Is that all I am?"

"My best friend", he nodded. "I love you."

Frida's eyes widened as she looked up at him. Diego looked at her with a smile and nodded.

"I love you too", she said.

"Don't think this means mating or anything", he said holding up a finger. "Let's take it slow and see what happens."

"Deal", she smiled nuzzling him.


	18. Keeping Sid

_we're having internet problems so don't expect the next chapter till next week_

* * *

The herd smiled as they walked back to the valley, catching up with the rest of the animals who were getting off the boat that kept them safe. Frida and Diego smiled as they walked with Sid, looking at the kids who ran by them happily.

"I don't know", Sid said. "Now I'm thinking about starting a swim school. Sid's Squids."

"Real catchy", Frida smiled.

Their happiness was interrupted when Sid screamed suddenly and hid behind Diego. He and Frida looked and gasped when they saw what Sid screamed about. It was a tribe of multicolored mini-sloths. Was this the same tribe that Sid mentioned before.

"All hail Fire King!" the female leader shouted, making them all bow.

Frida and Diego looked at each other in disbelief. So a tribe really did worship Sid. Why? They had no idea.

"Uh...hi?" Sid nervously said.

"Hi! Hi! Hi!" the sloths all repeated.

The tigers looked at Sid even more confused. These little sloths were even weirder than Sid.

"Fire King avert flood", the female said. "Join us, o great and noble flaming one."

Sid smiled feeling happy and proud that he was wanted. Frida looked at Diego waiting for him to say something that would keep Sid with the herd.

"Whoa, not so fast there!" Diego said approaching the tribe. "You make a quality offer, but Fire King has a prior commitment. His herd needs him. He is the gooey, sticky... stuff that holds us together."

Frida giggled at his choice of words. Gooey, sticky stuff? Was Sid supposed to take that as a compliment?

"He made this herd, and we'd be nothing without him."

Now, that last statement was heartwarming. Even Sid thought so because he looked like he was going to cry.

"You mean it?"

He wrapped his arms around Diego, hugging him tightly. Diego started growling and moved his head away. He may liked Sid as a friend, but that did nothing to change that horrible smell Sid carried around with him.

"Sid, that doesn't mean 'want to touch'", he sighed.

They turned to see the tribe all hugging each other. Frida giggled as she nuzzled Diego.

"You big softie", she smiled and licked his cheek.

Manny, Ellie and the possums walked to them and looked at the tribe confused. They looked at Diego waiting for an explanation as to why there was a tribe of mini-sloths hugging each other.

"Don't ask", he sighed.


	19. Together Forever

Everyone smiled as they caught up with all of the animals in the valley. Looked like everything was going to go back to normal, witht the exception of Ellie and the possums. Everyone looked around as they heard a soft rumbling in the air, almost like loud footsteps. All of the animals in the valley turned to the opening in the wall and watched with wide eyes as they saw a complete herd of mammoths migrating into the valley.

"Mammoths!" Frida gasped. "They're not extinct after all."

"Yeah..." Sid weakly answered.

His plan went down the drain. He had hoped that Manny and Ellie would get together in hopes of keeping the species alive. Now there was no need for any of it. Now that there were more mammoths, Manny and Ellie could spread apart and go with different mammoths.

"We're not the last ones anymore!" Ellie smiled as she turned to join the herd of mammoths.

Frida gasped worried and looked at Manny who looked hurt. Was she really going to leave them?

"What are they saying?" she asked.

Diego twitched his ear to try and eavesdrop on their conversation. Frida and Sid looked at him hoping it wasn't anything bad.

"Manny's not taking the hint", he said. "Ellie's trying to spell it out for him and he's...he's going to let her go."

"What?" Sid gasped.

The group watched as Ellie turned away and walked away, joining the herd of mammoths. Crash smiled sadly as he gave them a peace out, while Eddie just walked away as the two joined their "sister". Sid, Diego and Frida looked at them sad before approaching Manny.

"Manny", Sid started. "You've come a long way since we met and I'll take full credit for that, but you need to let go of the past so you can have a future."

"He's right", Frida said. "Look at me and Diego. We may not be the completely official couple, but we've come a long way. You deserve to be happy."

"Go after her", Diego smiled encouragingly.

Manny looked at them feeling torn. Could he leave their herd and join another? Could he convince Ellie to stay?

"It's okay", Sid said. "We'll always be here for you."

"I'll keep in touch", Manny smiled.

"Yeah, yeah", Diego awkwardly said.

His ears flattened against his head and he looked down looking like he was trying to keep himself from crying.

"You're a good friend. Point made. Now, go on. Scat."

Frida smirked and playfully nudged him. Her softie was not good with affectionate goodbyes or anything like that. The three of them watched with smiles as Manny ran to catch up with Ellie. To their amusement, he hung upside down from a tree trying to appeal to Ellie's possum side. After falling out of the tree, Manny and Ellie wrapped their trunks together nuzzling for the first time as a couple.

"Well, it's just us now", Sid sighed. "Three friends knocking about in the wild. Whoo-hoo..."

"Fine", Diego sighed. "But I'm not gonna carry you. I still have my pride, you know."

"What is it with you men and you're pride?" Frida asked shaking her head.

"I'll carry him!"

The three of them gasped and turned to see Manny, Ellie and the possums joining them. Manny picked up Sid, putting him on his back.

"But what about the herd?" Frida asked. "Aren't you going to join them?"

"Our herd is where our hearts are", Manny smiled.

Crash and Eddie slid down Ellie's trunk, jumping onto Frida and Diego's backs, riding them the way Sid rode Manny. They turned and walked past the walls of the valley, ready to explore what the world had in store for them.

"Manny, who do you like better?" Sid asked. "Me, Diego or Frida?"

"Diego", he answered. "It's not even close. Frida comes second."

"Wow", Frida said seeing the smirk on Diego's face. "I don't know how to take that statement."

"Manny, you can't choose between your kids", Ellie lectured.

"He's not my kid", he argued. "He's not even my dog. If I had a dog, and that dog had a kid, and that dog's kid had a pet, that would be Sid."

"Can I have a dog, Manny?" Sid asked.

"No."

"Ellie, can I have a dog?"

"Of course you can, sweetie."

"Ellie, we have to be consistent with him", Manny said.

Frida shook her head. They were sounding completely like a married couple now. This was their life now. She couldn't wait to see what the future held for her and Diego.


End file.
